The train has been introduced to mark 100 years of the historic Champaran Satyagraha (movement) launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917.

19. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched a scheme for setting up of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Wind Power Project.

It is connected to transmission network of Central Transmission Utility (CTU).

The aim of the scheme is to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process.

20. The Union Ministry of Railways launched three passenger service initiatives.

The services are as follows:

Janani Sewa under which hot milk, hot water and baby food will be available at railway stations.

Optional catering services project

Children’s menu on trains’ scheme

These services were launched by Union Railways minister Suresh Prabhu on 8th June 2016 in New Delhi.

21. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of 15 years contract for undertaking exploration and other developmental activities related to Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS).

The contract was approved between the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

22. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for enhancement of retirement age of government doctors’ to 65 years to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country.

Union Cabinet has approved proposal forwarded by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Also approved the age of Public Health and Non-Teaching Specialists of Central Health Service from 62 years to 65 years Doctors of General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) sub-cadre of Central Health Service (CHS) from 62 years to 65 years.

23. Railways flags off 1st time-tabled freight train.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has flagged off India’s first timetabled freight train, named ‘Cargo Express’, from Delhi to Bengaluru.

The move aims to reduce the delay and uncertainty over the time schedule for delivery of goods.

24. The United States (US) Senate (Upper House) has unanimously approved amendment to enhance military co-operation with India.

The amendment is done as part of National Defence Authorisation Act -2017.

Military co-operation with India will be for developing military doctrine, threat analysis, force planning, logistical support and intelligence collection and analysis.

25. Human Resource Development Ministry has launched Vidyanjali, a school volunteer programme in New Delhi.

Vidyanjali is an initiative under Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat, to enhance community and private sector involving government-run elementary schools across the country.

Through Vidyanjali, the government aspires to bring change in the quality of education in schools.

26. First batch of three female fighter pilots commissioned.

Creating history, the first batch of three female pilots – Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh were inducted in Indian Air Force fighter squadron.

On successful completion of their training, the trio were formally commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

27. The Union Government has eased foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for nine sectors to give impetus to job creation and ease of doing business in the country.

A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the decision.

By easing the FDI norms, India becomes the most open economy in the world for FDI.

FDI Limits in some important sectors are:

Food products: 100% FDI

Defence Sector: 49% FDI

Pharmaceutical Sector: 100% FDI

Aviation Sector: 100% FDI

Animal Husbandry: 100% FDI

28. Union Government gave its final approval for setting up of a Greenfield Electronic Park which is a dedicated IT hub near Bhubaneswar.

It is to be set up under Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) scheme of the Centre, will come up on 203 acres of land.

It will provide employment potential of 10,000 to 12,000 persons and common facilities for training, incubation and R & D activities to the interested entrepreneurs.

29. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named a crater on Mars as Langtang.

It was done after one of the villages most affected by the devastating 2015 earthquakes in Nepal.

The Langtang crater on Mars is 9.8 kilometers wide and has scientific importance.

IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the PhD level and beyond, active in professional education and research in astronomy.

30. Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa visited New Delhi on a three day visit to India

This is the fifth Visit to India by Nepal Minister

The two Nations signed nine agreements in areas of transport, connectivity and cooperation in the energy sector.

Thailand Prime Minister Chan-o-cha made visit to India and arrived in New Delhi starting from 16th June to enhance bilateral cooperation between two Nations.

31. Maharashtra Government has accorded minority status to Jews in the state.

This decision was taken as per the provisions of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act, 2004.

Decision in this regard was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.

With this, Maharashtra becomes second state in the country to accord minority status to Jews after West Bengal.

32. The Assam Government has launched a unique initiative ‘Maitree Ek Gyan Yatra’ to link primary schools to high schools to colleges.

Initially, it will be launched at in Sivsagar district of the state and later will be implemented across the state.

The purpose of the programme is to change the mindset of the teachers, as in some places in states teachers of a school considered it below their dignity to teach the lower level students.

33. The Punjab government has launched a special fund “Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis C Relief Fund”.

It was raised to provide free treatment for patients affected by Hepatitis C.

With this initiative, Punjab became the first Indian state to provide free treatment to confirmed cases of Hepatitis C.

The fund will have an initial corpus of 20 crore rupees.

34. The Union Cabinet has approved proposal of extending the deadline for implementing the Ujjwal DiscomAssurance Yojana (UDAY).

The deadline will be completing on March 31, 2017.

States shall take over 75% of ailing DISCOM (Power Distribution companies) debt as on 30th September, 2015 by 31st March, 2017 by issuing Bonds.

The UDAY scheme aims at bringing ailing power discoms to a state of operational efficiency, with state governments taking over up to 75% of their respective debt and issuing sovereign bonds to pay back the lenders.

35. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for a special package for employment generation and promotion of exports in Textile and Apparel sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the decision in the Union Cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

According to the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme Reforms Union Government will bear entire 12% EPF Scheme contribution of the new employees for first 3 years. Provided they should earn less than 15,000 rupees per month.

36. Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey 2016 was released.

According to the report Mumbai was declared costliest city in India.

Asia dominates the top 5 of 2016 Cost of Living Rankings, with Hong Kong bagging the No. 1 spot, pushing Luanda, Angola to 2nd.

The survey includes 209 cities across five continents.

New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.

Five Indian cities that are ranked in the list are as follows:

Mumbai – Rank 82

New Delhi – Rank 130

Chennai – Rank 158

Kolkata – 194

Bangalore – Rank 180

37. Union Government launches India’s first pilot programme.

It was launched to run two-wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in New Delhi to curb air pollution in cities.

It was launched to limit light pollution and preserve sites for making astronomical observations.

26. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has elected Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

These newly-elected countries will have two-year term starting from 1 January 2016 till 31 December 2018.

They will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.

27. Gudni Johannesson has won the Iceland’s presidential election.

He was able to secure 39.1% of the vote.

He will succeed Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

28. Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road.

The test was conducted on parts of road E16.

It was based on the government’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

29. Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the 16th President of Philippines.

He will have tenure of six years.

He was administered oath to the office by the Supreme Court justice at the Malacanang presidential palace.

30. Two women have been appointed as judges of Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah High Court for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the Muslim-majority country.

They are:

Noor Huda Roslan (40)

Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin (41)

31. Exercise RIMPAC 2016, the Pacific military exercise, began on 30 June 2016 at Hawaii.

It will cover the Hawaiian Island and southern California.

The theme of RIMPAC 2016 is Capable, Adaptive, Partners.

26 nations including India, 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise that is scheduled from 30 June to 4 August 2016.

9. The Rio 2016 organizing committee revealed the official slogan for the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America – “A new world”.

It also unveils the medals, 52 days from the start of the quadrennial extravaganza.

Along with the Olympic torch, the medals and the mascots, the slogan plays a major part in creating the unique identity of each Olympic Games.

10. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2016 European Grand Prix of Formula One.

Top 3 teams are Mercedes, Ferrari and Force India.

Positions attained by various Racers:

First Position: Nico Rosberg (Germany) of Mercedes team

Second Position: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Ferrari team

Third Position: Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India team

Fourth Position: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) of Ferrari Team

Fifth Position: Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom) of Mercedes Team

11. The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das has won the silver medal at the Archery World Cup held in Antalya, Turkey.

12. 106 year old Aida Gemanque became the oldest Olympic torch bearer when she carried the flame in the Amazonian city of Macapa.

She is also called as extreme granny.

She broke the record formerly held by Alexander Kaptarenko, who was 101 when he took part in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics relay.

13. The BCCI has suspended and issued show-cause notices to the top Goa Cricket Association officials.

They were were arrested for alleged misappropriation of organization funds.

GCA president Chetan Desai and secretary Vinod Phadke, who are also part of important committees of BCCI, along with treasurer Akbar Mulla were arrested earlier this week by police for alleged misappropriation of Rs 3.13 crore belonging to the organization.

14. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed former spinner Anil Kumble as the head coach of Indian Cricket Team.

He will have tenure of one year.

The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

In the final match, he shot 199.5 score to bag the silver medal in men’s 10m air pistol.

19. Anju Bobby George and Pullela Gopichand have been named as the members of Khelo India.

Khelo India is a national programme launched by the Union Government for the development of sports in the country.

20. The Argentina women’s team has claimed a record seventh International Hockey Federation (FIH) Champions Trophy title with a 2-1 win over reigning World and Olympic champions, the Netherlands, in the final at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.

Various titles given as follows:

Best player: Carla Rebecchi (Argentina)

Best junior player: Maria Granatto (Argentina)

Best goalkeeper: Joyce Sombroek (Netherlands)

21. Sanjeev Rajput, Ace Indian shooter has won the silver medal in men’s 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup held in Baku, Ajerbaijan.

He shot 456.9 points to win the silver medal.

22. Amul, India’s largest food products marketing organization has become the official sponsor of Indian contingent to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells its product under the brand Amul has inked an agreement with Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Amul will use its famous tagline, Amul Doodh Pita hai India to cheer the Indian contingent.

The higher MSPs would increase investment and production through assured remunerative prices to farmers.

3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its second bi-monthly monetary policy review for year 2016-17 has maintained status quo in key policy interest rate.

The policy rates were decided as follows:

Policy Repo Rate 6.50%

Reverse Repo Rate 6.00%

Marginal Standing Facility Rate (MSF) 7.00%

Bank Rate 7.00%

2. The World Bank released a report on Global Growth Forecast.

In this report the global growth forecast was decreased to 2.4% in 2016 and at 2.8% in 2017.

This happened mainly because of a slower than expected recovery in advanced economies and due to mediocre growth experienced by advanced economies, while low commodity prices, weak global trade and stilted capital flows also impacted.

According to the report, India will remain one of the fastest growing major economies, ahead of China, for the next three years.

The aim of SEBI’s stricter KYC, disclosure norms is to make it tougher to use these offshore instruments that do not disclose the money-trail and details of their users.

8. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines called Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).

The main aim of these guidelines is to strengthen the lenders’ ability to deal with stressed assets and to put real assets back on track of entities facing genuine difficulties by providing an avenue for reworking financial structure.

The RBI has formulated the S4A as an optional framework for the resolution of large stressed accounts.

9. A cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the takeover by State Bank of India (SBI) of several subsidiaries.

SBI wanted to take over five units that had been running at arms-length, as well as state-run Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The merged entity will create a banking giant, which can compete with the largest in the world with an asset base of almost Rs 37 lakh crore, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs as on December 2015.

10. The Union Finance Ministry has announced that non-resident Indians (NRIs) can now open National Pension Savings (NPS) accounts online i.e. through eNPS if they have Aadhaar Card or Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

Earlier, NRIs could open NPS accounts only through paper based applications by approaching Bank offices.

11. India’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) has created a dedicated IT innovations and startup fund and have set aside Rs 200 crore for investment in promising startups.

The fund would be extending upto Rs 3 crore for any India registered company for promoting their business in India using information technology for banking.

12. State-run banking behemoth SBI has been named in a ‘Hall of Shame’ list of 158 banking and financial institutions globally that have invested billions of dollars in companies making cluster bombs.

State Bank of India (SBI) is the only Indian entity on the list, which includes global giants like JP Morgan, Barclays, Bank of America and Credit Suisse.

They invested over $28 billion in seven producers of cluster munitions between June 2012 and April 2016.

13. The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for extending support to Startups.

This 10,000 rupees corpus fund will be established in line with the Startup India Action Plan, an initiative of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) which was unveiled by Union Government in January 2016.

The FFS will be used for the contribution of various Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to extend funding support to Startups.

14. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its much awaited ‘Vision-2018′ document.

It aims at building best of class payment and settlement systems for a ‘less-cash’ India.

It will be ensuring access to mobile banking services to even basic phone users.

15. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 500 million dollars loan to build a bridge across the Ganga River in Bihar.

The loan funds will be used to build 9.8 km Road Bridge in Bihar on the Ganga River.

On completion of the project it will be the India’s longest river bridge.

16. The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved first set of loans.

Total amount of loan is US 509 million dollars.

It is to finance projects in four countries; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Tajikistan.

17. India Post opened up the ongoing scheme of customized printing of ‘My Stamp’ for individuals and corporate also.

Under the scheme an individual or a corporate entity can get their photo or logo printed inside the postage stamp at a price of 12 lakh rupees.

As per reports, this time there will be 5000 sheets comprising 60000 postage stamps.

These stamps can be used for general postal mail.

18. The Union Government has decided to enhance financial powers of its Ministries, Departments for appraisal and approval of Non-Plan Schemes or Projects.

Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification in order to expedite appraisal and approval process in the Union Government Ministries and Departments.

Bills – New & Amendments:

1. Assam Assembly has passed Assam Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2016 to facilitate ease of doing business in the state.

The bill seeks to attract fresh investment in the state through an easy computerized clearance system.

The bill has the provision for speedy processing of applications and issue of clearances for setting up industries.

2. The Election Commission (EC) has urged the Union Government to amend the electoral law Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951.

The reason behind this amendment is empower it to either postpone or countermand elections if evidence emerges of use of money to influence voters.

EC has asked Union Government to insert a new clause ‘58 B’ in the RPA, 1951 to allow adjournment or countermanding (declaring invalid) of election on the grounds of use of money power (bribery) in the affected polling areas.

3. Sri Lankan Parliament has passed the Right to Information (RTI) bill.

The bill aims at restoring transparency and good governance in the country.

The RTI bill seeks to give citizens access to public information which is in the possession, custody or control of a public authority.

4. The Union Cabinet has considered the Model Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2016.

The Bill will be sent to States/UTs so that they will be able to modify their individual Acts, if they so desire.

The States/UTs can either adopt the Bill as it is or modify its provisions as per their requirements.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):

1. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in May 2016 signed a series of twelve agreements in Tehran.

The most important of these 12 agreements is the trilateral transit agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan.

In the deal, India offered to develop the Port of Chabahar in order to allow Indian goods to be exported to Iran, with the possibility of onward connections to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

2. The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the signing of MOU between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India (DGCA) and the French Civil Aviation Authority – Direction Generale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC).

The motive of the MoU is:

Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for implementation and promotion of Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The TCP will be beneficial for enhancement of expertise and skills of DGCA’s officers.

Implementation of the cooperation between the two parties for imparting training of technicians, engineers, managers etc.

3. India and Tunisia on 2 June 2016 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in Information Technology and promotion of traditional handicrafts.

The MoUs were signed after the delegation level talks between the two countries in the presence of Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid in Tunis.

The two sides had discussion on bilateral ties focused on economic partnership and adding new areas of collaboration in IT and education.

4. India and Singapore have agreed to enhance the scale of existing bilateral military interaction.

Both the countries have decided to expand the interaction between the armed forces.

The decision was taken at inaugural Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue (DMD).

5. India and United States (US) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to join the global terror database maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) of US.

Under this MoU, both sides will give each other access to terrorism screening information through designated contact points, subject to domestic laws and regulations.

TSC is a multi-agency organisation administered by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which consolidates several terrorist watch lists maintained by different US government agencies into single terrorist database on terror suspects.

6. India and Thailand have signed two agreements in culture and educational sectors to boost bilateral ties.

The agreements were signed in New Delhi during the three day official state visit of Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to Indian.

Signed agreements are:

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India’s Nagaland University and Thailand’s Chiang Mai University.

Agreement for to extension of the Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) between both countries for 2016-19.

7. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL) have signed a MoU.

The MoU was signed for implementation of additional works on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar.

As part of the MoU, both signatory parties will be implementing three additional works on the KMTTP at the estimated to cost 476 crore rupees.

3. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the signing of a Protocol amending the Agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation.

Decision in this regard was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The amendment in the Protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information between the two countries.

4. India and Switzerland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

It was signed to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skills development and vocational and professional education and training.

The MoU was signed between Switzerland’s State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Winterthur.

5. The Colombian government and the leftist FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels have signed a historic ceasefire and disarmament agreement.

It establishes a bilateral ceasefire and end to hostilities and the definitive laying down of arms.

6. The CSIR-Central Institute of Miningand Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with coal supplying companies and power utilities.

MoU was signed for quality analysis of coal supplied.

7. India has signed a memorandum of obligation in Tashkent to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

8. The Union Cabinet has approved MoU between Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), Bhutan.

It will strengthen the existing relationship between UPSC and RCSC.

It will also facilitate sharing of expertise and experience of both the parties in the area of recruitment.

9. The World Bank Group has signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

It was signed to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investments by 2030.

The ISA is a group of 121 countries led by India and is headquartered in India.

6. Telecom-to-energy conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) and India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) have signed Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement to set up payments bank.

As per the agreement, RIL will be the promoter with a 70 per cent equity contribution in the payments bank and SBI as joint venture will have 30 per cent equity contribution.

7. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has inked a MoU with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector.

Science & Technology:

1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully deployed the first experimental inflatable room attached to the International Space Station (ISS).

The experimental inflatable room dubbed as BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) was deployed after it was successfully expanded and pressurized.

2. Nine-coach Spanish train Talgo’s trialrunwas conducted on 29 May 2016 on the Bareilly-Moradabad route of Uttar Pradesh. It was conducted as part of the Railways’ strategy to increase the speed of trains.

The trail run was conducted by a joint team of the Railway Design Standards Organization (RDSO) and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo.

3. According to a study by Indian researchers at major excavated site of Bhirrana, Haryana suggests that the Indus Valley Civilization is much older than thought before and climate was not only the cause behind collapse of Harappa civilization.

The study was conducted by a research team from IIT Kharagpur, Institute of archaeology, Deccan College Pune, Physical Research Laboratory and Archaeological Survey of India.

The finding was published in prestigious journal Nature Scientific report on 25 May 2016.

The study of levels of Pre-Harappan Hakra phase was dated to be as old as 8000 years.

4. NASA scientists have located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of toxic Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions that cause pollution.

They used a new satellite-based method for locating them.

The unreported emission sources were found in the analysis of satellite data from 2005 to 2014.

These sources are clusters of coal-burning power plants, oil and gas operations and smelters notably found in West Asia, Mexico and parts of Russia.

SO2 is a known health hazard and cause of acid rain.

5. A team of scientists from Harvard University (United States) has created a unique bionic leaf that uses sunlight (solar energy) to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels from CO2.

This artificial photosynthesis device has been dubbed bionic leaf 2.0.

The new system can convert solar energy to biomass with 10% efficiency.

Its efficiency is much higher than the 1% seen in the fastest growing plants.

6. The world’s first 3D-printed aircraft THOR was unveiled by European aerospace company, Airbus at the International Aerospace Exhibition held in Schoenefeld, Germany.

The THOR is short for Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality.

It resembles a large, white model airplane but is windowless.

7. Rajasthan Government has launched mobile application RajVayu.

This app will share information about air quality index of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched this app on the eve of World Environment Day (5th June).

By launching the app, now Rajasthan becomes first state in country to launch such app for sharing information about air quality index of cities.

8. Researchers at Assam Agricultural University have developed two rice varieties.

They are Ranjit Sub-1 and Bahadur Sub-1.

These were developed to get better yields under submerged conditions in state mainly Barak Valley.

9. The Union Ministry of Power has launched Surya Mitra mobile App.

It will serve customers in the field of renewable energy.

The app was launched by Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal at National Workshop on Rooftop Solar Power held in New Delhi.

They were formerly known by their respective atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118.

The elements were recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, the U.S.-based world authority on chemistry, on December 30, 2015. Their addition completed the seventh row of the periodic table.

11. Scientists using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have discovered a Jupiter-like circumbinary planet named Kepler1647b orbiting a system of two stars.

The planet was discovered by astronomers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU).

KST is an unmanned space observatory launched in 2009 by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

12. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a Public Sector Power equipment manufacturer has commissioned 195 MW unit at Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station in Bihar.

KBUNL is a joint venture (JV) of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) and BSPGCL (Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited).

The first 195 MW unit was commissioned in March, 2015.

BHEL is a power plant equipment manufacturer completely owned by Union Government.

Fact you should know: It is the largest engineering and manufacturing company of its kind in India.

9. Famous Television actress Ann Morgan Guilbert died after battling with cancer. She was 87.

She began her TV career in the 1960s, appearing on popular programmes such as I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, and The New Andy Griffith Show.